Ukraine 2011

Ukraine 2011 - Page Text Content

S: UKRAINE 2011

FC: UKRAINE | 2011

1: It was a long, fast, strange, happy, scary, relaxing, exhausting, inspiring, straining adventure. Long plane rides - including an emergency landing in Iceland on our return flight - plus an unexpected hernia surgery for Alex plus visiting a different park almost daily plus everyone finally meeting Yasya plus Alex reuniting with longtime friends he hadn't seen in years plus trying to fit in as many historical sites in one day as possible (once Alex was released from the hospital) plus trying to find Yasya-safe food in a country swimming in sour cream plus dealing with language barriers and the need for Sofi's translating skills (thank God for Sofi!) = PHEW! What a vacation!

2: Alex finally reunited with his adoring baby brother. Awwwwww!!!!!

3: "Nika, kiss Yasya! Kiss Yasya!"

4: Travelling | by Tato | a | too cool for school

5: something old | something new

6: we made it

9: Traveling around the city with George and Yulia, we ended up at the children's theater I took Sofi to when she was a baby. She happily posed with a little cossack while Tato laughed at the Britney Spears billboard. We can't escape her!

10: Playing America's Next Top Model

11: Children's Puppet Theater

12: good eats

13: It was a VERY long walk. Yasya didn't quite make it. Luckily Tato was there to carry her and let her nap for a while.

15: Uncle George came prepared with a big bag of chalk for everyone to draw with. Smart guy.!

16: The Matching Cousins

17: Uncle Igor, Aunt Tanya, and Cousin Kyryllo were welcome faces. Kyryllo brought the girls clay and books showing how to make dinosaurs and animals. The three played happily together despite language differences while the grown-ups got to catch up.

19: McFoxy's | As seen on TV! Thanks for the suggestion, Anthony Bourdain!

25: Racing to St Sofia's

27: Alice in Wonderland Art Park

28: Top of my MUST-DO-IN-UKRAINE list: Ukrainian Street Vendor Hot Dog! | Look who the girls found in the food court at the mall.

30: Yasya finally got to meet her namesake King Yaroslav the Wise at his Golden Gate. We all thought Yaroslav's cat looks suspiciously like Yaroslava's cat Guinness.

31: It is hard to describe how it felt going back to St Sofia's with the girls. That is the most powerful church I have ever been in. We were very lucky and arrived on a day when they were letting visitors inside. All the centuries of history can be felt. | Alex was reprimanded for using his camera, but only after he got two pictures - this & Archangel Gabriel. | It may be Sofi's namesake, but Yasya loved it, too, once she got to see where King Yaroslav's bones were hidden inside.